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It was believed that the first Gungan "grand army" was to defend against Bursas, large and dangerous animals. The grand army eventually drove the bursas to extinction.[4] Sometime around 3000 BBY,[6] the Grand Army formed at the peak of the War of the Gungan tribes when BossGallo united the Gungans to defeat the warlord Boss Rogoe.[1]

In 100 BBY, the Grand Army fought off unknown invaders of Naboo. As a result, the Gungan tribes were united even closer than they were after the War of Gungan Tribes thousands of years before.[source?] Every Gungan city was required to hold annual drills for its militiagungs so that the Grand Army could be assembled in thirty-six hours.[7]

During the Clone Wars, around the year 21 BBY, JediGrand MasterYoda contacted the Boss of Otoh Gunga, Lyonie, to ask for assistance in a battle. Binks, now a Senator, convinced Lyonie to assist. Binks, along with a portion of the Gungan Grand Army, was sent to Mon Calamari onboard a Venator Star Destroyer. Many Gungans died in that engagement while fighting Aqua droids, and many were captured when the Separatist leader Riff Tamson used a Trident vessel to create a whirlpool. The survivors were sent to a prison camp among Mon Calamari's coral reefs.[9] Soon after, the Mon Calamari princeLee-Char visited the camp and told the prisoners to wait for his signal before attacking. Lee-Char was captured and brought before Tamson, and was scheduled to be executed. The Quarren, Mon Calamari's other race, had joined the Separatist cause but betrayed the Separatists and freed the prisoners. The Grand Army was able to fight back, and some Gungans joined Captain Ackbar in taking down a Trident-class ship. The battle was ultimately won, and Lee-Char was crowned king.[10]

The army being transported to Dac for reinforcements.

At a later time, there was unrest on Naboo. Rumors were circulating that the Gungans allied with the Separatist Alliance. Boss Lyonie was calling on the Grand Army to march on Theed. Amidala, now Naboo's senator, along with the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, returned to Naboo to defuse the situation. They met Binks on Lake Paonga, and the Gungan took them to Otoh Gunga to meet Lyonie. The Boss rejected their help, but Skywalker realized Lyonie was under a form of mind control from a necklace given to him by Minister Rish Loo. The Jedi crushed the necklace and freed Lyonie. Lyonie then confronted Loo, who betrayed the Boss and stabbed him. Loo escaped from Otoh Gunga and went to the surface to inform the Grand Army that Lyonie was dead and rally them to march on Theed.[3]

Lyonie survived his wound but was unconscious. Skywalker saw that Binks resembled the Boss, and convinced him to pose as Boss Lyonie to call off the Grand Army's attack. They went to the surface, and Binks was able to fool the Grand Army into believing that he was Lyonie. Rish Loo, seeing that his ruse had failed, escaped deeper into the swamps on a Flitknot speeder bike. Three C-9979 landing craft then entered the area and landed. One disgorged a tactical droid with a B2 super battle droid escort. Binks and General Tarpals followed the tactical droid onto the landing craft, where they met General Grievous. Binks, still posing as Lyonie, told the cyborg general that he wasn't going to go through with the attack. That angered Grievous, and Binks acquiesced and ordered Tarpals to prepare the troops. Tarpals disembarked and contacted Amidala, who suggested a strategy. Binks, meanwhile, stalled for time, but Grievous saw through the ruse and attempted to kill him. Binks escaped off the craft and saw that the Grand Army had succeeded in shutting down the droid army and was gathered around to try to capture the Separatist general. Tarpals and several other warriors engaged the general in the duel. Grievous fatally stabbed Tarpals, who used his sacrifice to impale the cyborg leader with a spear, distracting him long enough for the other warriors to hit him with boomas, knock him down, and capture him.[3]

Skywalker chased Rish Loo to his secret outpost, which was in use by CountDooku, the head of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Dooku killed Loo, then dueled Skywalker. Skywalker was subdued and captured, and Dooku contacted Amidala, offering a prisoner exchange: the Jedi for the General, and gave her one hour to decide. Later, a Sheathipede shuttle arrived near the gathering of the Grand Army. The tactical droid delivered the wounded Skywalker to the Naboo contingent, and the Grand Army let Grievous go. The Separatist army then left Naboo. Neeyutnee, Naboo's current Queen, praised Binks for reuniting the Naboo and the Gungans again.[3]

The Gungans also used bongos for transporting supplies.[source?] The Grand Army used kaadus as mounts for their officers[7] and as cavalry, with their riders using flamethrowers. Other kaadus were mounted with weapons to serve as anti-infantry units. The Grand Army also used biological units as heavy weapons, such as cerrabores and lerraas, and swifts. Other heavy weapons included raapturs. Glurrgs assisted the Grand Army as workers.[1]

The New Essential Guide to Alien Species states that the first Grand Army was formed in 100 BBY to fight off unknown invaders and unite the Gungan tribes. However, this conflicts with the fact that it was in existence thousands of years before during the War of Gungan Tribes and the Gungan-Naboo War.

Another contradiction in the Essential Guides is the existence of the Gungan-Naboo War. One source states that a war occurred between 150 BBY and 121 BBY. The New Essential Guide to Alien Species states that there was never a war between the Gungans and Naboo.

In the 2001video gameStar Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, the Gungan Grand Army gets its own campaign narrated by Boss Nass. The game chronicles its formation under Boss Gallo and skips to the Invasion of Naboo. The last mission is an alternate history scenario where the Grand Army outright wins the Battle of Grassy Plains and liberates Theed. The last mission in the OOM-9 (Droid Army) campaign is another alternate history scenario where the Droid Army defeats the Gungan Grand Army. The same game also establishes that, in addition to its ground army, the Gungan Grand Army also possessed a Navy (of both the aquatic and starfaring varieties), a mechanized army, an air force, and a heavy weapons division.